The present invention relates to the generation of ozone.
The production of ozone can be required for many purposes such as in water treatment, whether this be for swimming pools, drinking water, hydroponics, cooling towers or the like, air purification and metal removal for example. Ozone has a major benefit as a disinfectant in that it will kill bacteria, viruses, cysts, etc. without putting any toxic matter into the water.
Ozone is a relatively unstable gas, having the formula O.sub.3 which will revert back to oxygen, O.sub.2. Ozone is created naturally such as by electrical activity associated with lightning, power transmission lines, ultra violet light etc. but commercially is produced by short wave ultra violet tubes or by corona discharge apparatus, sometimes referred to as Siemens discharge cells.
The present invention relates to such corona discharge apparatus which will typically take the form of concentric tubes or parallel flat plates through which the oxygen or oxygen bearing gas will flow and across which a corona will be created to produce ozone.
The description hereinafter will, for simplicity only, refer to parallel flat plate type apparatus but it is to be understood that other configurations which will be apparent to those skilled in the electrical arts, such as concentric tube configurations, are incorporated herein.
A major disadvantage of existing corona cells is the high voltage that is required, typically not less than 5 KV at a frequency of 50 Hz (low frequency)--600 Hz (medium frequency)--2000 Hz (high frequency). The highest frequency which the applicant is aware of having been proposed to be used in a corona cell was 10 KHz. It will be appreciated that the use of high voltages carries with it inherent disadvantages both in the cost of providing the high voltage, the cost of insulating the equipment to accommodate the high voltage, and the inherent safety considerations for the users of the equipment.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an ozone generation method and apparatus which operates at or above substantially 20 KHz, hereinafter referred to as "high frequency (as herein defined)" which overcomes or at least obviates disadvantages in such methods and apparatus available at the present time or which at least will provide the public with a useful choice.
Further objects of this invention will become apparent from the following description.